The present invention relates generally to intraoral devices and, more particularly, to an intraoral discluder device for use in relieving tension headaches, common migraine headaches, and temporomandibular disorders.
Tension and muscle contraction headaches affect many people every day. The headaches are often recurring and, without effective treatment, can become very painful, restricting an individual""s ability to think clearly and function effectively. The discomfort associated with tension and muscle contraction headaches is usually due to pain from strained and fatigued muscles of the head. The majority of the muscles of the human head are not sufficiently strong to elicit the type of pain and discomfort associated with tension and muscle contraction headaches. That is not the case with the temporalis muscle, however, which is located on the side of the skull and extends from just behind the eye to just behind the ear, and which is an extremely powerful muscle that functions to close or elevate the jaw.
Under normal circumstances, the temporalis muscle should not exert a large static force by contracting isometrically, except possibly during normal chewing. Inappropriate isometric contraction of temporalis muscle is commonly known as xe2x80x9cclenchingxe2x80x9d and clinically known as myofascial dysfunction. Unfortunately, myofacial dysfunction is particularly difficult to detect or diagnose because the act of clenching is a relatively motionless act that is commonly done while a person is concentrating on another topic, or while sleeping.
As the muscular contraction condition of xe2x80x9cclenchingxe2x80x9d continues, the muscle becomes fatigued and susceptible to spasm and cramping. The pain from spasming and cramping temporalis fibers is severe and is usually diagnosed as a common migraine. Individuals suffering from headaches, who seek the assistance of a physician, are usually treated with muscle relaxants, analgesics, and physical therapy for the muscle fatigue. However, medications and therapy require continual treatment and treat only the symptoms of the underlying problem and not the problem itself.
Persons suffering from headaches, who seek the assistance of a dentist, commonly will be diagnosed with a temporomandibular disorder and treated with an intraoral xe2x80x9cjaw positioningxe2x80x9d appliance. Unfortunately, the intraoral appliances provided by dentists usually are not entirely effective, because they only approximate the relative positions of the upper and lower teeth with respect to each other, allowing clenching to continue with minimal mandibular movement. Further, these intraoral appliances ordinarily cannot be used with patients who have malocclusions, protrusions or retrusions of the mandible, or other irregular teeth or mandibular orientations. Typically, the intraoral appliance must also be fabricated by a dentist at a prohibitive cost to a majority of individuals who suffer from tension and common migraine headaches. Lastly, most intraoral jaw positioning appliances and other types of semi-custom intraoral discluders can only be used on the upper teeth. However, in some circumstances, use of the device on the upper teeth is impossible due to malocclusions and irregular orientation of the teeth.
It should be apparent from the foregoing discussion, that there is need for a more effective semi-custom intraoral device that can be used with various teeth and jaw orientations and that can be placed on either the upper teeth or the lower teeth to prevent contact of the upper and lower teeth in all mandibular movements. By preventing contact of the upper and lower teeth, the semi-custom intraoral discluder would be able to inhibit inappropriate isometric contraction of the temporalis muscle and thereby prevent tension and common migraine headaches and other temporomandibular disorders. The present invention satisfies this need.
The above-noted problems, and others, are overcome in accordance with this invention by a small semi-custom intraoral discluder device that can be used with various teeth and jaw orientations and that can be placed on either the upper teeth or the lower teeth, to prevent contact of opposing upper and lower teeth. By preventing contact of the upper and lower teeth, the semi-custom intraoral discluder device inhibits inappropriate isometric contraction of the temporalis muscle, thereby preventing tension and common migraine headaches and other temporomandibular disorders.
The intraoral discluder device of the invention includes a prefabricated trough, having a front wall and a rear wall. Extending a substantially distance anteriorly and posteriorly from the trough is a protrusion, typically dome shaped, that extends such that as the lower jaw is elevated, the edge of the opposing incisor or incisors comes into contact with the contact surface of the protrusion prior to the opposing upper and lower teeth coming into contact. The contact surface of the protrusion prevents the upper and lower teeth from contacting each other, regardless of the protrusive, retrusive, or excursive position of the mandible or the teeth or any mandibular movement and suppresses isometric contraction of the temporalis muscle. The protrusion can be further modified by the practitioner or wearer to accommodate for any unusual or extreme mandibular movements or teeth orientations.
If necessary, the trough can be filled with an adaptable material that conforms to the shape of the incisors and assists in retaining the trough on the upper or lower incisors. In addition, means can be provided for enhancing retention of the adaptable material within the trough. Such retaining means can take the form of one or more cutouts formed in a wall of the trough, a mechanical undercut in a wall of the trough, an adhesive, and/or natural attraction of the adaptable material to the trough.
In other, more detailed features of the invention, the protrusion preferably has a length in the anterior/posterior direction in the range of about 8 mm to about 12 mm. Further, the protrusion preferably projects anteriorly from the front wall by at least about 3 mm.
Other features, and advantages of the present invention should become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.